Wet Chocó, Ecuador

Background to the region

The wet Chocó extends from north-western Ecuador into Colombia. The prevailing climate is warm and extremely wet, with some areas receiving up to 16,000mm rainfall each year. Humid conditions foster rapid vegetation growth and here the conditions, combined with the local geology, have led to the evolution of a huge range of species with tiny distributions, making the wet Chocó one of the Earth’s most biodiverse regions.

The Chocó supports numerous restricted-range and globally-threatened birds, including the Chocó Vireo (Vireo masteri) (classified as Endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species)) and Scarlet-breasted Dacnis (Dacnis berlepschi) (Vulnerable).

Although less well known, the area’s amphibian, reptile and invertebrate assemblages are also globally outstanding.

Over 10% of South America’s plant species have been recorded in the Chocó and some 25% of these plants are entirely restricted to this region.

Mammals are well represented here. South America’s largest feline, the Jaguar (Panthera Onca) (Near Threatened) and primates such as the Brown headed Spider-Monkey (Ateles fusciceps) (Critically Endangered) being two high-profile examples.

Project site

WLT currently works at one site in the Chocó: Rio Canande, supported by the Carbon Balanced programme.